Code of Gennai
by LucJig
Summary: When enemies begin to threaten the very existence of the Digital World, a drastic approach is needed for the Digidestined to come out on top. And Tai is the one who takes the burden.
1. Enter Megidramon

_Alright, since this first chapter has been sitting idly by for some time now, I thought I'd publish it, though I probably won't get to updating it until I've finished Dark Waters..._

_This is set about three years after MaloMyotismon's defeat_

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><p><strong>Enter Megidramon<strong>

"All right everyone! We're seriously going to have a fun, uninterrupted picnic this time!" Yolei called out exuberantly as she held up her digivice to the computer. "Digi-port open!"

The gate opened in the computer lab, drawing in all the kids, the older and younger Digidestined alike, through the screen. They came out onto an open field, which was the perfect spot for a sunny day of food and games. On a normal, sunny day, that is. Now, the air was dry and hazy. A smog seemed to be covering the area, and they noticed the nearby village was missing. Everyone was quiet. The entire place had been burned to the ground. It seemed as if most of the residents had survived, however, and that was fortunate. A large group of rookies and a couple champions were attempting to rebuild the small town.

"Dude," Davis said, quietly but abruptly breaking the silence. "What in the world happened? Let's check it out!"

The children started off with their digimon, excepting Yolei, who stood gaping with a dumbfounded and disbelieving stare. She broke out in a string of complaints. "I can't believe this! Will it ever stop? After everything we've been through, there's still evil going around the Digital World? Can't we have _one_ peaceful day? This is hopeless!"

That last remark naturally caught TK's attention. He stopped walking with the others to glance back at her. He smiled. "Come on, Yolei. How about we see what it's all about before jumping to conclusions? It may have just been an accident."

Yolei calmed down at his reassurance, gut still glowered as she followed the others. Even if what TK said was true, they would no doubt all vote to help the digimon rebuild their city, which meant an interruption to their picnic. The group went up to the digimon who was apparently giving orders, a guardromon.

"What happened here?" Tai asked the machine digimon.

"A wildfire passed through two days ago," the guardromon promptly replied in his robotic voice.

"Wildfire, huh? That's too bad. Hey, how about we help you guys rebuild?"

"You're help would be appreciated," said the robot politely.

Tai turned to the others to give a thumbs up when he saw Yolei's dark expression. He cocked his head. "What's your problem?"

She held up the picnic basket in reply. Tai laughed. "We'll get to that! Don't you worry. Let's just get up to speed with what we have to do here."

The Digidestined's leader again began speaking to Guardromon, asking directions, giving them out, receiving a blueprint of the town via Izzy's laptop, and dividing up the kids into teams. They all dispersed soon after, going to their respective places to work. Beams were hoisted; the sound of hammer on nails filled the air. They had made considerable progress in the reconstruction of the town with the new help from the children's champion digimon. At the rate the rebuilding was going, the main structural foundations and frames would be finished before sunset.

A loud rushing noise started coming from the scorched forest to the west before the sun even touched the horizon. Lights appeared in countless numbers among the shadows, and suddenly burst out upon the town.

"DemiMeramon!" A cry was heard from a gekomon.

Guardromon went straight to giving orders. "Keep them away from the buildings. Don't let them set fire to anything!"

Hundreds of the little flaming digimon had blanketed the town, and the Chosen digimon's first reaction was to get their partners to safety, outside the village. The kids' champions soon returned, and effortlessly threw demimeramon after demimeramon out of the village. But the flames were hot and the day was dry. The town was soon shining bright with smoky fire. And then the ground began trembling, as if something was approaching. The little fire digimon had been driven away from the buildings, but lingered on the outskirts, waiting.

The attention of every digimon and human present was drawn to the mountains lying to the north. The ridges were outlined with a burning orange colour that was steadily increasing in intensity. The source of the rumbling and fire appeared, soaring over the cliffs of the mountains, burning with rage and soaring straight for the village.

"Who is that?" Tai exclaimed, staring at the huge red dragon.

"Megidramon, a mega! He's a virus-type dragon digimon whose very existence is a threat to the Digital World." Izzy exclaimed, reading from his laptop. "Everyone! Get clear of the village!"

The mega digimon had wound up, preparing an attack, and unleashed it upon the town with a violent voice, "Dragon Howling!"

The blaze was targeted directly for the centre of the town, and all the residents proceeded to scatter into chaos. Only the Chosen digimon ran in any one direction. Towards their partners. The blast of Megidramon's attack crashed to the ground, burning down the day's work in an instant, and sending a shockwave out that sent every digimon flying. Every digimon, except the demimeramon that were still lingering. The attack seemed to give them a burst of strength, and every one of them warp-digivolved into SkullMeramon. The Digidestined ran to recover each of their respective partners, who had reverted to rookie after getting hit by the shockwave.

"We're getting out of here!" Matt was the first to say, "This is too much of a surprise, we're going to have to regroup!"

No one argued, but went charging towards the nearest digiport, which lay some ways from the town. At the rear, Tai took a glance back and saw that Megidramon was coming after them, readying to attack again, with all the ultimates behind it.

"RUN!" He cried, frantic. "Faster! Open the portal!"

Yolei was at the head of the group, and thrust out her D3 at the TV gate. "Digiport OPEN!"

Immediately, the screen filled with white and proceeded to draw them in one by one, as Megidramon finally attacked. "Dragon Howling!"

The atmosphere turned white as Tai strode the last few steps. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear Matt's voice calling out. He felt blazing hot air brush past him roughly. The smell of smoke quickly became overpowering. Tai registered the familiar feeling of being sucked through the gate, but it lingered much longer than it should have. After several moments, the bright whiteness flashed out. All was silent. The room was black. The air was rather cold. Tai tried to look around, to talk, to move, but nothing showed any sign that he was in the computer room at Odaiba Elementary. He had never felt so disoriented, especially when a gentle hand rested on his head followed by familiar, aged voice spoke from the air around him.

"Welcome, Tai."

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><p><em>To be continued later...<em>


	2. Things are Changing

_Hello readers! I decided to put chapter two up since it was already started and I don't feel like updating DW._

_A/N: This story probably won't get any bigger than five chapters, as its more of a type of prequel rather than a full-fledged fic like DW._

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><p><strong>Things are Changing<strong>

"Tai!" Matt cried as soon as he hit the ground. He picked himself up immediately, and stepped over and even on the bodies of the others to get to the computer screen. The portal had gone red. Their gate was closed. He pounded a fist on the table.

He looked over everyone, making sure that all the others had made it, human and partner alike. They did, even including Agumon, but no Tai. Matt turned back to the gate and glared at the red screen that almost seemed mocking.

"What happened, Matt?" Izzy said after he brushed himself off. He walked over to see what the older boy was looking at. "Hmm, looks like that last attack destroyed the gate. There's no getting back in this way."

Again Matt pounded his fist, his lingering frustration catching the attention of the others. It was a rather unusual reaction from the cool-headed teen. He stared at the screen as he spoke to Izzy. "Where's the nearest open gate? We have to get back there right now!"

"What's the matter? We haven't even planned what we're going to do about Megidramon when we get there. That was the whole point of coming back here in the first place." Izzy replied, though he was already working quickly in reaction to the urgency in Matt's voice. Agumon was the one who answered.

"Tai's still out there!"

Kari gasped, "Oh, no."

Everyone had already picked themselves up beforehand, and were now looking around amongst themselves franticly, looking for the boy in question. Matt and Kari, not to mention Agumon, didn't have to look. The bushy-haired leader wasn't there.

After a few moments of searching, Izzy announced, "I found the most proximate gate, but let's be careful."

Despite his words of caution, Kari strode up to the computer, D3 extended. "Digiport open!"

For the third time that day, the group felt the sensation of going digital. They appeared on the other side, standing at the edge of a tall ridge. The valley they overlooked was the same one they had planned to picnic in earlier. It had changed drastically since that afternoon when they had first arrived. They could see the brown and black ruins of the town, now completely abandoned save for hundreds of little flames that were either burning embers or remaining demimeramon.

"Whoa!" Davis exclaimed as soon as his feet hit the ground. He clumsily tried to get away from the edge, forcing Ken to reach out a helping hand. Regaining his balance, the goggle-head turned to Izzy. "Couldn't find a safer place?"

The red-head's eyebrows drew together. "I picked the closest portal, not the safest. Our concern now is finding Tai."

Everyone searched the landscape, looking for any sign of the brunet in question. There was no sign of Megidramon, though his warpath was clearly carved into the valley, drawing dark lines that marred the otherwise breath-taking panorama. It was a saddening sight. Presently, Matt pointed at a large, charred crater in the middle of the valley.

"There's where the TV gate was."

"Better check it out," Izzy replied. The children turned to their partners, looking for the ones who would digivolve to take them down from the mountains. A quick glance among themselves, and three digimon stood forward.

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"

The Digidestined piled onto the three champions, and they took off down from the mountains. As they approached the spot where the TV had been; the last place they had seen Tai. Matt couldn't help but feel a lump rise in his throat, picturing what they would find among the burnt ruins. He shot a glance at Kari, who was sitting by Agumon. Telling by the looks on their faces, Matt could tell that they were having similar fears.

The group stopped by the crater, but no one really felt like searching. It didn't look like there was much to see. The TV hadn't been completely destroyed, but the glass had melted and fused with the plastic and metal. Other than that, there was only charred grass. Without the discovery of any hints to their missing friend's location, the Digidestined had nothing to go on. They remained there at the crater, musing over what they could possibly do.

"Electro Shocker!"

Everyone reacted in the same manner, spinning to see what Kabuterimon was attacking. Matt caught a glimpse of what looked like ten hostile demimeramon dispersing into data. More were approaching from the village ruins.

"Hey, maybe more of you should digivolve," Davis suggested.

"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

Before the other kids' partners could follow suit, a rumbling could be heard, and everyone knew what was coming.

"Ah! Hurry up everyone! Digivolve!" Davis shouted.

Matt knew that wasn't the answer to their situation, and countered Davis with a shout of his own. "Wait! We're not ready to fight him yet!"

"Oh, yeah? And why's that?"

Megidramon burst into view, not giving Matt the time he needed to reply in full. He could only call back as he jumped onto Birdramon's claw. "He's too powerful!"

Half the group had already boarded, and seeing that the mega was diving in for an attack, they hurriedly made their getaway, racing for the portal in the mountains. Matt found Izzy sitting next to him with a confused look.

"We're quite powerful ourselves, Matt. Why can't we stand up to him?"

The older boy glanced back at Megidramon, still pursing them. The monster's face was filled with berserk rage, and it was roaring incessantly until the saliva was flowing freely from his mouth. Smoke rose from the place where the acidic drool touched the ground.

"There's something about that digimon," Matt eventually replied. "He's completely wild. I have a feeling his purpose is to destroy us personally, and then the Digital World comes second. He may even be powerful enough to get to the Real World someday. He's not all cocky and reserved like other digimon we've fought. He's just wild. I can tell he won't stop until we're all dead. It seems best that we fight where we can easily pull off a last minute escape."

"I see what you mean. We wouldn't have enough time for everyone to dedigivolve and gather and fly up here if we stayed to fight."

"Exactly. We need the best plan we have ever come up with." Matt was still looking at Megidramon. "I have a feeling that we'll need more than two megas to defeat him."

Izzy nodded in acknowledgement, and the two boys fell silent for the remainder of the flight up to the mountain portal. Ken, who was also on Birdramon, was the first to get in range of the TV.

"Digiport open," he said, jumping off of the champion's claw. Birdramon dedigivolved as soon as she could, so as to not get sucked through while still a champion. Aquilamon and Kabuterimon followed suit, and soon everyone was once again in the real world.

A pause followed their arrival in the old computer room. No less than a minute passed, however, when a beeping sounded from the computer. Naturally, Izzy's voice followed.

"Megidramon just destroyed the gate we used."

Matt ran a hand through his hair, frustrated over their failure to find Tai. He looked over the group. "Well, by now we should know the drill."

He was momentarily interrupted by a rather audible sigh from TK. Several heads turned towards the blond, which made him a bit uncomfortable. "What?" He asked, shrugging.

Matt managed to crack a smile. The atmosphere could use the lightening. Plus, the boy indirectly spread new hope throughout the group with remembrance of times passed. They had been through these situations before, and things had come out all right.

With Tai gone, people seemed to automatically look to Matt for answers. It was a bit of a stretch for him, being that he usually sat in the back corner most of the time. Things like this were about to change. Matt returned his attention to the task at hand. "Who's spending the night at whose house?"

Davis cleared his throat loud enough to get the attention of the room. "Remember why we were going to have a picnic in the first place?"

He got mostly blank stares in return, which flustered him. "My BIRTHDAY! Anyone who can come is invited to spend the night, okay?"

"Didn't we do that last time?" Ken said, his posture pensive. TK subtly lifted his right hand up and held his left shoulder at those last two words. Everyone, save Matt, failed to notice. He dismissed it though; it was a common motion now.

In reply to Ken's question, Davis merely gave a thumbs-up. "Well, that's just 'cause my house is the party house! Come on!" He turned sombre. "We can at least try and have a little fun, you know?"

"Sure thing, Davis." TK agreed. "I'm in."

Everyone save Joe, Sora, and Mimi decided to go. One was busy with his internship, the other had tennis practice, and the third was in America. Matt addressed the next problem: the older kids' digimon. "We may have to keep the digimon here overnight now. The Digital World isn't really safe for us anymore. I know you younger kids usually have your partners with you, but I don't know about the rest of us. Gabumon can stay at my place."

"Mind if Gomamon stays with you?" Joe said, a hint of apology in his voice.

Matt made a face and scratched the back of his head. "Well, Joe…see…the thing about Gomamon…"

"What?" The little rookie challenged. "Spit it out!"

"I know, Matt," Joe said, lowering his head. "It was a long shot, anyway."

Smiling, Matt waved him off. "Nah, Joe, it's all good. Gomamon's welcome."

The older boy smiled his gratitude.

"Tentomon's fine with me," Izzy said.

"I don't think it's safe for Biyomon to be at my place."

Izzy waved at Sora, "I think I can handle one more digimon. My mom will probably get along better with Biyomon than Tentomon anyway."

The insectoid countered, "I resent that!"

Ken volunteered next, ending the potential exchange between Izzy and his partner. "I did end up telling my parents about the digimon. You want to stay at my place, Agumon?"

"Fine with me." Agumon said, his usually energetic voice now low with anxiety.

"Well, that's everyone, I think," said Matt. The group began to disperse, but the musician caught the computer geek by the arm. "You think Palmon will be okay?"

Izzy's face took on a look of concern. He pulled out his D-Terminal and began typing, speaking to Matt the whole time. "Probably not for long. I'll inform Mimi of what's going on and have her bring Palmon to the Real World. I think her folks know about the DigiWorld."

The older boy nodded and continued out with the others.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Digidestined managed to keep quiet about the disaster impending on the Digital World, but things were drastically changing. The sky was now perpetually covered by smog. Forests were being levelled to burnt embers. Grass was no longer green, if it was standing at all. Volcanoes long dormant had become active. Desert was beginning to overtake the world. Soon, all the demimeramon had digivolved to their champion forms, and the power of Megidramon was growing rapidly. Three times the Digidestined had launched attempted attacks on him, and three times they were pushed back, just barely escaping before another TV portal was destroyed.

And through it all, the Bearer of Courage was nowhere to be found.

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><p><em>Until next time! Don't forget to review.<em>


	3. Fire Fight

_Hello again, readers! Hope you enjoy this next chapter._

_FYI: None of the digimon mentioned in this story have any relation to those that appeared in Tamers. This megidramon isn't Takato's partner._

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><p><strong>Fire Fight<strong>

"He was always a great help to have around." Cody remarked quietly.

"A little energetic for my taste, but it did more good than harm," Ken put in.

Davis huffed. "Are you kidding? He was the best! He was the man!"

"He was more of a man than you'll ever be," Yolei countered.

"Hey!"

Joe cut in before the argument had a chance to take off. "He was always making fun of me doing too much work. I miss it, actually."

"He always mocked how much pink I wore," Mimi said. "I don't really miss that, but he was kind in every other way he could be. Except that he keeps forgetting to hold the door open for girls."

Sora chuckled. "Most of my memories of him, before the DigiWorld, are playing soccer. He was always seen as the big shot, but really, he made sure the whole team had a part in the win."

"He was always so brash." Izzy said, "A lot of the time he didn't know what he was doing. As long as he was helping others, he was happy."

TK nodded. "He's like the older brother of our group, always doing what he can to make sure we can get through our hardships."

The group fell silent, save for a sigh from Kari. It took her a moment to put thoughts into words. "You all keep saying 'he was.' It's almost like you think he's already gone. But he's not. He's just missing, and he's not going until we find him, I know it! I'm not ready to give up now."

Matt finally spoke. "She's right. Remember how Tai was sucked into that vortex after Etemon? We may have split up, and may not have had much hope of finding him, but he came back. He always has a way of coming back."

It finally happened, soon after that conversation. A glimmer of hope came.

They had their final trials first. An ambush of lynxmon attacked the group during the second month of Tai's disappearance. The armour digimon weren't too much of a trouble for the Digidestined. A mega and a couple ultimates were enough.

But then came the main force. A band of skullmeramon, with a fiery Devimon-like digimon in the lead. The two sides stood at odds to each other for some time, one daring the other to make the first move.

It was Davis who spoke up. "Who the heck are you?"

"FlareDevimon," the demon digimon said with a smile and in a matter-of-fact voice.

Nothing more was said from the enemy, so Izzy faithfully filled in the group with information on his laptop. "He's an ultimate-level with fire-based attacks. Makes sense if he's working for Megidramon."

"That I am!" FlareDevimon laughed. "You can gain much respect for working for the Dramon."

"It won't get you anywhere!" TK shouted at the ultimate.

"Well, how about I prove it now?" The digimon charged with his skullmeramon right behind him.

"Guys, go on! Get into cover and hide!" Matt shouted at the other nine kids. "MetalGarurumon and I will stay behind to hold this guy off for a while."

Matt himself ran along with them to get a safe distance, and often shot a glance in MetalGarurumon's direction. The battle cry from the mega continued to reassure the kids that they had the time they needed.

"Ice Wolf Claw!" After releasing the blast, the mech ran over to where Matt was while FlareDevimon recovered. "Matt, you go on. I can follow later."

The boy hesitated, but didn't argue, especially after hearing an angry cry from the evil digimon. He sprinted off after the rest of the group as his partner reengaged FlareDevimon. Matt could feel the ground trembling and the heat and cold on the back of his neck from the intense battle. MagnaAngemon and Angewomon shot out from the cover of burnt trees and rocks to help, and Matt didn't even bother to interfere. When he reached the edge of the sand where the rocky terrain began, TK and Kari were there waiting nervously behind two charred stumps of trees. The others had gone further into cover.

Matt paused behind a third stump, partially to catch his breath, but mostly to check on his partner. FlareDevimon was slowly and steadily driving MetalGarurumon and the two angels out of the desert. Matt gasped when he saw the skullmeramon make a move to surround the three digimon. In a desperate manoeuvre to keep the fire digimon away from the children, MagnaAngemon drew a circle in the air with his Excalibur.

"Gate of Destiny!"

The blast of white drowned out the figures of the fighting digimon, but the light kept growing in intensity, blinding all the spectators. It was several moments before Matt managed to open his eyes, and when he did, the bright glow still filled the air. He peered around the tree and back towards the desert to investigate. The silhouettes of MetalGarurumon and the two angels stood there, looking on into the ivory fog. All was silent. TK and Kari were still there too, peeking from behind their refuge, aware of the change in the atmosphere. A minute of gazing into the surreal whiteness, and the kids spotted another small silhouette approaching.

They stared hard, and some time had passed before the figure was close enough to hint at its identity. Kari was the first to recognise it, and let out a small gasp. "Tai!"

Matt narrowed his eyes and ran out after Kari, TK beside him. The other boy picked up his pace to meet them, and joined Kari in a long awaited embrace. Matt looked him over as the brightness faded to normal smoky daylight. The other kid didn't even have a scratch, though his clothes were different and he cut his hair. Tai was now dressed in cream coloured robes with a hood, all fringed with flaming orange. It was the style of Gennai, Matt noted. The boy held a more cool and mature air than ever, and grinned calmly at Matt and TK.

"Well, I'm back."

Matt then realized the other Digidestined were right behind them, and a small burst of celebration rang out across the hot desert as hugs were passed around. Tai ended with a long embrace with Agumon.

"Miss me?"

"You kidding? We've been worried sick!" Agumon retorted, on the verge of tears. Tai was still smiling however.

"Yeah, sorry. It was pretty intense though."

"Mind telling us what happened?" Matt put in.

Tai made a face. "Couldn't wait, could it?"

"No."

"Well then, to start off—" Tai's beginning was interrupted by the rest sitting down around him, getting ready for a long story. He smiled, though there really wasn't much to tell. There wasn't time to give all the details. "Actually, everything happened pretty fast. I was kinda running behind during that last attack by Megidramon, and couldn't get to the gate in time before it was destroyed, which made me wonder why I wasn't hurt. Everything just went white, and then turned black after that. Gennai showed up a little after that. He brought me up to speed on what happened and everything. Simply put...the old man told me I had been dead. He spent most of his power and his allies' power to bring me back.

"To sum up a long story, Gennai and his group are becoming obsolete compared to the enemies we're having to face. He wants to make a new generation of his kind based on me."

"Whoa, man! Really dead?" Davis couldn't help but insert.

Izzy cocked his head. "Fascinating, though I personally can't imagine calling you Gennai."

Tai smirked, "No problem. I get to keep my name. Gennai and Tai, he liked how that sounded. Basically, all this time I've been training for the role of a guardian of the Digital World. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I'll say," Matt interjected. "But I always kind of saw all of us as guardians, being the Digidestined and all."

"In a way we are," Tai replied with a thoughtful look that would have been rare prior to the whole incident. "But where would we be without Gennai? He was kinda the guy in charge. He sent us in the right direction. Gave us tips that we'd be lost without. It was as if he was the head man, and we were his tools. See what I'm saying?"

The other kids nodded. Ken ventured, "So he was the main guardian the whole time."

"Yep," Tai responded. "And now I and a bunch of my counterparts are getting ready to replace him. There's just one more thing I have to do to prove I'm the guy for the job. If I pass, then I get to live as the next Gennai until we go obsolete. If I fail…well…I die in the attempt. It's a fair enough deal for me, since I've pretty much already died."

Everyone went silent, and worry was written on Kari's face.

"What's the test?" She asked.

Tai paused to put a sentence together, but everyone's thoughts were interrupted by a far-away rumbling. The fiery, roaring form of Megidramon appeared over the ridge of a distant mountain, and the ground trembled with its approach. The Dramon had finally come to confront the Digidestined once more. Tai reached over his shoulders and pulled the hood over his head, showing the Crest of Courage emblazoned on it. He wordlessly began walking in the direction of the approaching digimon. Matt realized his meaning and strode forward, catching Tai by the arm.

"Whoa, what are you doing? Are you saying that defeating this thing single-handedly is your test?"

Tai nodded. "Yes. And don't try to stop me. Gennai had everything laid out. Megidramon's impossible to defeat any other way."

The bearer of Courage resumed his stride towards confrontation with the advancing mega. He called over his shoulder one last time. "And keep these other guys off me, will ya? I'd rather be making my own fire right about now."

With that, Tai broke into a sprint just as the flaming army of Megidramon blazed onto the scene, bursting out of hiding from behind rocks and black trees. The Digidestined found their hands full with FlareRizamon, SkullMeramon, Lynxmon, and other dangerously hot digimon. All of the children's partners warp digivolved into their highest forms, leaving Agumon to chase after Tai tearfully, calling the boy's name.

He only glanced over his shoulder at his digimon, but the embroidery of Courage on his hood began to glow, and Agumon stopped his pursuit. The power began to fill him, despite the absence of Tai's digivice. Agumon cried out.

"Agumon warp digivolve to…WarGreymon!"

The rest of the Digidestined cheered. Three megas on their side was more like it. WarGreymon didn't hesitate a moment longer to soar off above his partner, protecting Tai from any of Megidramon's threatening flame digimon. Matt called to his digimon.

"MetalGarurumon! Help WarGreymon. Make sure Tai gets to Megidramon without trouble."

"I'm on it!" The metal wolf took to flight as well, assuming a spot next to Tai's partner. Before long, all the rest of the Digidestined had sent their digimon to follow suit. Three megas, six ultimates, and two champions surrounded Tai as he raced towards his final test, his friends now running after him.

Megidramon's army failed in their attempt to break the Digidestined's barrier, and Tai was out of trouble. Eleven kids and their digimon stopped their pursuit of him, cheering him on as he met the mega in a grand face-off. The creature dove low to the ground in its flight, planning to take out the robed boy before it with one blow, and unleashed its attack with a calm but rumbling voice.

"Dragon Howling."

Tai's sprint didn't falter, and he held out both hands in front of him, crossed over each other with palms facing outwards. A small sphere of silver light shone just in front of his hands, and a beam of energy shot out from it, carving a path for Tai down the middle of Megidramon's wave. The mega let up its attack for an instant; just long enough for Tai to slightly lower his defences. It struck again. This wall of flame caught Tai head on, and he let out a cry of pain loud enough to reach the Digidestined behind him. Despite their concerned and alarmed shouts, he pressed on through the flames that seared his body but failed to burn his clothes.

He held his hands up again, a rather difficult task considering that the fire brushed past him like a gale-forced wind. His skin burned with the heat, even though no damage was shown. Through it all, his focus was still set on Megidramon, looming before him as Tai broke through the wave of fire. He had stopped running now, and the great creature had stopped its flight. Tai concentrated on centring all his energy on the coming blow, and aimed it at the mega's head. Megidramon opened its mouth in what it thought would finish Tai off, but the boy was ready an instant before it. A ball of bright platinum shot up from the robed figure and into Megidramon's mouth.

The rumble of an internal explosion shook the ground. The mega was motionless as light began to seep out from within. Another blast, and light burst out from Megidramon, dissolving it into data in the progress. Nothing was left behind, except for a small translucent sphere which settled down into the hands of Tai, who was now kneeling on the ground from exhaustion.

The final battle had been short, and came out all right, but Tai was spent. He had used most of his energy in strength and will power to bring down the powerful digimon. He stared almost blankly at the sphere of power in his hands, watching it flicker before fading away completely. With it, he felt the last drops of his energy go as well. He fell prone on the ground. Everything that he was conscious of had some remnant of the fire. His skin prickled and stung with the flame burns. A fire roared in his ears. His eyesight was filling with what seemed to him like smoke. But there was also a fire within him, a light still burning. Despite his latest exertion, it was still there, small but brighter than ever. His body was on the verge of death, but he was not ready to die.

Tai was aware of the others gathering around him, trying to find a way to revive him or get him to focus, but it was futile. He had sunken far into the subconscious. Gennai's voice presently came, successfully draining out the remnants of the others' calls.

"That was well done, Tai. You've done Baihumon proud."

"Have I died?" Tai found himself able to speak.

"Almost. Your spirit is on the verge of departing from your body. You have one more choice to make. We have what we need for the new Code. You can choose to leave your body behind and move on; or, you can choose to remain in spirit, and live until your Code becomes obsolete."

"Remain in spirit? What exactly do you mean by that?"

Gennai snorted, and Tai could tell, wherever the man was, that he was at least smirking. Tai couldn't really see anything but a grey expanse. The smoke had completely clouded his vision. Gennai made his reply. "I don't think I can lay out a precise explanation, but I can assure you that you won't be wandering the universe as a hopeless, invisible ghost."

"Well that's a relief."

"Is that your choice, then?"

Tai paused. He thought about how long the wait would be for the next generation of the Code. Just how long was that? He was only the second generation. Gennai was there before the Chosen Children were even chosen. He wasn't sure if he would be willing to wait that long. But then he remembered his friends. And how young they all were. There was so much ahead of them, himself included. Tai spoke before he could think twice.

"I'm staying."

"So be it. It was an honour and adventure working with you, Tai. Tell your friends for me too. The time has come for me and my kin."

Tai felt Gennai's hand on his head once more.

"The Code of Gennai," the digital man. "Is now the Code of Tai. Please keep the rhyming theme going and never forget to recycle."

With that, the weight of the hand was gone, for the last time. Slowly, the smoke began to clear. Tai became aware of the painful, burning sensation once more, but his robes were without any sign of scorching. As he lay there, slowly coming to, the other Digidestined backed away to wait.

And then something from within him dispersed into data. For the younger children, it was not unlike watching Ken after the banishment of the Digimon Emperor within. This time, however, it seemed that the clothes underneath the robes were being deleted, not the façade on the outside. The inner layer flew out past the robes, breaking apart, but they all recognized the blue t-shirt with the yellow stars before it scattered into millions of pieces. And then Tai was opening his eyes.

Their overjoyed looks were the first things he saw when the cloud completely cleared, and he knew he made the right choice.

* * *

><p><em>Well, there's only one more chapter after this.<em>

_It's definitely not as in depth as I might normally go in a story with a major villain threatening the existence of the Digital World, and I might expound on it in later fics. But my plan for this story was mostly as a prequel to kind of explain what happened to Tai in my next major fic about the next generation of Digidestined. It'll probably start quite a while after Dark Waters is finished, which means sometime in the new year._

_Anyway, let me know what can improve!_


	4. Guardians

_Hey all!_

_So, since real life is kinda catching up to me, I thought I'd finish this story up before disappearing for a while. Doesn't look like I'll get back to Dark Waters before the new year, as was my plan...so...yeah...hope you enjoy this last chapter..._

_Final disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Though I did make up FlareDevimon and GranMegidramon._

* * *

><p><strong>Guardians<strong>

He often visited the cemetery. More and more so as years went by. Life had been lived to the fullest and they all had moved on, but still Tai waited. He didn't know what to wait for, and in all honesty he didn't like to think about that. Sometimes thoughts just came, however.

What evil digimon could possibly rise up that I'm too obsolete to defeat?

Who could possibly replace me?

Will it be someone I know?

How much longer will it be?

It was Tai's reminder that there was still a lot of time left before he was released from his duty. He watched his friends die, each of them making him promise to look after their kids. That wasn't a hard task. They grew up too, having their own adventures, the type of journeys that set them apart as Digidestined instead of mere Tamers like most others of their generation. And he was able to be the one to guide them.

How many human generations passed in one Code generation?

Tai stood over Matt and Sora's graves, and soon would move on to Kari and TK's. He had watched the yellow camellias and pink lotuses, the blue bellflowers and red roses as they grew from small sprouts into healthy bushes around the tombstones. His friends had all still participated in battles over digital turf, and his best friend was in the midst of it until the bitter end. Things went on, however. Chores in the DigiWorld kept him from being completely idle, but visits to the Real World never failed to spark nostalgia in him.

Time passed, and he sometimes nearly lost track.

Before he knew it, his best friend's daughter had her own grave in front of Matt's. And then her husband. Then her brother and his wife. By the time Kari's great-grandchildren had their own tombstones, Tai came to realize his everyday chores had slowly turned into bigger and bigger projects. From raids on Primary Village to a crazed ultimate running loose, needing to be calmed and, if it went too far, reconfigured. There was even a conspiracy to revive a dangerous mega which needed to be quelled. This was Tai's life.

But finally there came a time when he felt tired. It caught him by surprise, and his age was finally dawning on him. Cody Hida's gravesite was filled with tombstones to the fifth generation, and though his digital body still had the energy of a middle-aged man, his spirit had grown weary. He had to come to terms with this reality, especially when one certain campaign to revive ancient evils actually succeeded. Tai sighed at the magnitude of this impending disaster. GranMegidramon, the next stage in Megidramon's evolution. As he strove to quell this rising destruction, Tai noticed the latest group of Digidestined fighting the powers of darkness as well. He recognized their leader as a raven-haired, blue-eyed goggle boy.

Just as with the previous generations of Digidestined, Tai hurried to meet them and offer his aid. They didn't question him as much as he and his friends once questioned Gennai when they first met, and he assumed it was because of his previous interactions with the past Digidestined. Everyone who had some sort of ordeal to go through in the DigiWorld had encountered him, and he had helped them.

Tai looked over the kids, and they gazed back at him, recognizing him in his garb.

"Are you…the real…?" The goggle-head in the lead asked him incredulously.

"Tai? Yep, that's me. Don't be surprised. You are going to need help on this one after all. What're your names?"

The boy introduced the five kids behind him, and then pointed to himself, "And I'm Takai Minamoto."

Tai smiled at him, and couldn't help but wonder if this would be the next kid. He had the looks of a leader and a boy of courage and selflessness. They were definitely necessary facets in the race to defeat GranMegidramon. He honestly didn't want it to happen; he didn't want Takai to have to give up his life to become a part of the Code, for the boy's sake. But it happened nevertheless. The stakes had grown too high. Despite the advanced powers of the Digidestined, it wasn't enough to save the Digital World. More was needed. The time had come for Tai to pass his final torch.

* * *

><p><em>Yes...in future stories, when I get back to them, 02 will be crossed over with 04.<em>

_But until then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and if you have a birthday between now and the next time I come back, Happy Birthday!_

__LJ__


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